Should Sunday Passengers
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Pay Double? asksA ittrjaylor
Opinion is Hardening in Favour of Making All Traffic Bear the Full Cost of Operation: Many Recreational Services are Now Subject to Extra Charges
WHEN two men appeared before a northern magistrates' court recently evidence was given that they had been fighting over Sunday work and the manner in which one of them had been "done out of" his fair share. This would have been surprising a few years ago, when Sunday Work was decidedly unpopular, but the worker's attitude has changed somewhat since then.
This case recalled to my mind the protests of a speaker at an Amalgamated Engineering Union conference early this year. He averred that some of their members were working so much overtime that they were left with virtually no private life, and their thoughts were moulded by "work on top of work." But one assumes that men do not regularly work overtime unwillingly, unless, of course, they are driven by their wives' demands for such luxuries as television sets and washing machines.
The bait is a thing we know 'as "double time." If we want something urgently it may be worth our while paying a high price for it, which, in turn, justifies the provider in paying an incentive rate to his staff. Passenger transport undertakings, unfortunately, get down all too rarely to charging on a " rate for the job" basis, the result being that too many of them run too many below-cost services, Staff Costs Higher The man who works on Sunday these days is usually well paid and there is no apparent reason why operators should provide him with travel at normal fares when he is probably receiving twice his customary remuneration. Equally, there seems little reason why recreational services should be provided at normal fares on a Sunday when staff costs are so much higher.
I was interested to learn recently that Hull Corporation had been given permission to charge double fares on Christmas Day services. Many transport committees and managers have been giving serious thought to the fact that the normal week-day passengers subsidize to some extent those who demand exceptional facilities. And, curiously enough, demands that are fervently pressed often seem to lose some of their urgency when it is discovered that economic rates are likely to he charged.
Opinion appears to be hardening on this matter, and it is widely felt thak there is a strong case for reducing the present volume of -Sunday working by increasing fates, an action that would at the same time make the remaining operation more of an economic proposition.
On the question of operational costs, Mr. F. S. Taylor, general manager of Newcastle upon Tyne Transport Department, told me recently that, in his opinion, recreational or amenity traffic should bear its fun cost. In the case of his own undertaking, race-meeting traffic is always carried at an economic fare, although all-night services do not meet their full expenses.
However, it is difficult to decide how much of this latter traffic is " amenity " and how much is essential, as large numbers of night workers are carried. The transport committee there have always taken the view that night services are essential, and not solely for pleasureseekers, therefore the charges have been kept to the minimum. There is a 6d. standard fare for any distance, with a 4d. workmen's and a 3d. children's fare. In the case of Newcastle's race traffic, special motorbus and trolleybus services are operated to the various meetings held at Gosforth Park throughout the year. The motorbuses run to the centre of the Park and passengers alight outside the main turnstile to the racecourse. There is a special return fare of 2s. for this, the single fare being Is. 3d.
Average 60 Passengers The trolleybus rate for a single journey is 9d., and the terminus is at the entrance of Gosforth Park. Loading on these special buses generally averages 60. passengers, which is almost their maximum capacity.
A supplementary charge on late night services is a normal arrangement in many towns. In Bolton, the latest service buses leave the town centre at 11 p.m. from Sunday to Friday, and at 11.15 p.m. on Saturdays. In the case of special rail excursions, arrangements are made for the trains to be met. Normal faresare -charged up to midnight, with double fares afterwards. Buses are run from (Sat= halls in the centre of the to•wti as late as 2 a.m. at a flat chatiVof is. i-ner head, a circular rokue ensuring that pssengers are drobped at points to their homes. Vehicles to the outer terminal -booking scheme are car,tied. Bolton's their conve do not points, a ensures tha Mr. A. general manag only other abn tour of Bolton, during the second wee summer holidays and fo during the September holidays. There is a flat charge of 2s. for adults and, as the trips are well patronized, the operation is remunerative. Loadings are, of course, dependent on weather conditions.
Bradford, I heard from Mr. C. T. Humpidge, runs late buses to meet railway excursions returning after normal services have finished. These are operated to any point within an area 11-2 miles from the city centre at a flat fare of is., and is. 6d. for points beyond.
There is also an arrangement for meeting excursion trains in Sheffield, and there the fare is is. from the station to any part Of the city. This, 'I was told by Mr. R. C. Moore, general manager, represents double the maximum between the city and the various suburban terminal points.
Mr. A. B. Findlay informed me that Leeds charges a supplement of 1d. over ordinary fares for services to football matches atHeadingley and Elland Road. On the' night bus services, when the minimum is 6d., fares are approximately four times the normal daily rate. Workers, however, .are issisrwith passes entitling them to tr ht 4Riroxirnately the equivalent If The normal daily fare.
In Plymouth there art no extrarate fares during normal Vermin?, hours. For such special ly iaicl ,vent midnight matinees, w fare of is. per person, irrespective of the distance travelled.
These occasional services, said Mr. C. Jackson, have just about covered expenses. The only other exception to standard rates is a circular tour of the city, cover 22 miles at a is. 9d. far ich operated during the may period. Ljmit,q;c, stomarily rated much Aterafit,,I,X1 from Cities to m higher t an stage-carriage .services over the same routes. At Liverpool the journey to Speke airport costs 2s., against 6d. f..4 the ordinary service, whilst a', Manchester the Ringway run is 3s. 6d., compared with Is. Oid„ 1[7' response to special requests for loctions, extra services are d at Liverpool after midnight, the run from the city centre to the suburbs. being charged at a • maximum of ls. 2d. per head for any distance. Liverpool also charges 5d. for special buses from railway stations to the pierhead, whereas at normal rates this is a lid. stage. Doncaster charges 6d. for special services between the town centre and the racecourse, a distance of approximately 1 miles.
This principle of "the rate for the job" has been increasingly applied in recent years. There is, of course, a limit to the circumstances 'which can be governed by the economic rule. To many, however, there appears to be a good case for making Sunday services profitable.
I would reiterate that the majority of Sunday workers enjoy a substantial supplement to their pay, and those who are' out to enjoy themselves ought to be prepared to pay their fair share for the facilities they demand. Certainly, double fares would put Sunday travel in a more realistic light. If they reduced the unnecessary element in demand, in the same way as the National Health Service's "bob on the bottle" has undoubtedly done, would anybody be the worse?